FIGURATIVE LANGUAGES IN THE ENGLISH LYRICS OF

THANK YOU ALLAH ALBUM: A FORMALISM

PERSPECTIVE

A THESIS

Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Sarjana Degree in

English Department Faculty of Teacher Training and Education
University of Mataram

BY

SAZLI ADAM RAIS

NIM: E1D112112

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TREANING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MATARAM
2019

i
 KEMENTERIAN RISET, TEKNOLOGI, DAN PENDIDIKAN TINGGI
UNIVERSITAS MATARAM
FAKULTAS KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN
Jl. Majapahit No. 62 Telp. (0370) 623873 Mataram 83125

RATIFICATION

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGES IN THE ENGLISH LYRICS OF THANK YOU

ALLAH ALBUM: A FORMALISM PERSPECTIVE

By

Sazli Adam Rais

(E1D 112 112)

has been approvedon January 2019

Approved by:

Second advisor

Drs. H. Baharuddin, M.Hum

NIP. 198109222005012002

ii
 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGES IN THE ENGLISH LYRICS OF
THANK YOU ALLAH ALBUM :

A FORMALISM PERSPECTIVE

Sazli Adam Rais

E1D112112

ABSTRACT

The study aims to find out kinds of figurative language and their meanings in
three selected song lyrics of Maher Zain. The researcher uses formalism theory to
analyze the types of figurative language found in the song lyrics. This study uses
descriptive qualitative method which concern in understanding the result of the
data found rather than calculating the result of the data. The researcher analyzes
the songs by reading them intensively and giving attention for each line. After
analyzing the sentences in the song lyrics, the researcher found four kinds of
figurative languages that are used in the song lyrics, they are hyperbole, metaphor,
simile, personification. Hyperbole is the type of figurative language that mostly
used in the selected song lyrics. From the data analysis, the researcher found the
figurative languages in hold my hand song consist of 2 personification, 2 simile
and 1 metaphor, in Palestine tomorrow will be free song consist of 6 hyperbole
and 1 simile, in for the rest of my life consist of 9 hyperbole. It can be concluded
that figurative language that most used in Maher Zain songs is hyperbole consist
of 15 hyperbole figurative language. The song lyrics try to tell us about human
social life which contained about love, sadness, happiness, and others. The
existence of figurative language is to beautify and to clarify the understanding of
the lyrics

Keywords :Figurative language, Maher zain, Formalism theory, Hyperbole

iii
 BAHASA FIGURATIF DALAM LYRIK BAHASA INGGRIS
TERIMA KASIH ALLAH ALBUM:
PERSPEKTIF FORMALISME

Sazli Adam Rais

E1D112112

ABSTRAK

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis bahasa kiasan dan artinya
dalam tiga lirik lagu pilihan Maher Zain. Peneliti menggunakan teori formalisme
untuk menganalisis jenis-jenis bahasa kiasan yang ditemukan dalam lirik lagu.
Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif yang berkenaan dengan
pemahaman tentang hasil data yang ditemukan daripada menghitung hasil data.
Peneliti menganalisis lagu-lagu dengan membacanya secara intensif dan
memberikan perhatian untuk setiap baris. Setelah menganalisis kalimat dalam lirik
lagu, peneliti menemukan empat jenis bahasa kiasan yang digunakan dalam lirik
lagu, yaitu hiperbola, metafora, perumpamaan, perwujudan. Hyperbole adalah
jenis bahasa kiasan yang sebagian besar digunakan dalam lirik lagu yang dipilih.
Dari analisis data, peneliti menemukan bahasa kiasan dalam “Hold my Hand”
terdiri dari 2 personifikasi, 2 simile dan 1 metafora, di “Palestine tomorrow will
be Free” yang terdiri dari 6 hiperbola dan 1 simile, “For the rest of my Life”
terdiri dari 9 hiperbola. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa bahasa kiasan yang paling
banyak digunakan dalam lagu Maher Zain adalah hiperbola yang terdiri dari 15
bahasa kiasan hiperbola. Lirik lagu mencoba bercerita tentang kehidupan sosial
manusia yang berisi tentang cinta, kesedihan, kebahagiaan, dan lain-lain.
Keberadaan bahasa kiasan adalah untuk memperindah dan memperjelas
pemahaman lirik

Kata kunci: Bahasa kiasan, Maher zain, Teori Formalisme, Hiperbola

iv
1. Introduction

Song is part of literature, a song as piece of music with words that are sung, has a
function to express the thought and feelings. Song consists of two elements, lyric
as the primary and music as the secondary (Dallin 1994). Song cannot be
separated from the music. Listening to music is one of enjoyable and comfortable
activity. When people feeling sad, happy or feeling bad music can be an
alternative for expression your feeling. We know that music is not complete
without song. In music song is a composition for voice performed by singing or
alongside musical instrument because Music is something that every person has
his or her own specific opinion about. Different people have different taste, and
various types of music have many ways of leaving an impact on someone. It can
be relaxing,soothing, energizing, and many more.
This research focuses on finding figurative languages used in Maher Zain songs.
In addition, the researcher wants to analyze the figures of speech contained in
Maher Zain songs. It would be analyzed to find what figurative language used
meanings appear in the lyrics.

Statement of Problems

1.Whatkinds of figurative language are found in the lyrics of the songs by Maher
Zain?
2.What are the meanings of figurative languages used in the lyrics of three songs
by Maher Zain?

Purpose of The Study

1. To discover kinds of figurative languages used in Maher Zain songs.

2. To know the meanings of figurative languages used in Maher Zain’s song lyrics
of Thank You Allah Album.

2. Review of Related Literature

1. Related Studies

The research conducted by reviewing some relevant paper concerned with

figurative languages which was particularly written by student. YudhiApriono
(2017) is one of college students in University of Mataram who had made paper
about figurative language in the song lyrics. he had made paper entitle:” An
Analysis of Figurative Languages used in lyrics of Scorpion Songs’’. From the
analysis he found metaphor, hyperbole and personification, but the metaphor is
more dominant from the others. This research used population and sample to
collect the data because the objects of analysis taken from three albums. Method
of data analysis used qualitative method. First, this research identified the
figurative language, second she classified figurative language.

The second one is Ripki Pratama (2018) is one of college students in University of
Mataram who had made paper about “moral values and figurative languages in
coldplay’s band” from the analysis he found metaphor, simile, personification,
irony and symbol in lyrics and he knows the meanings of carried by the figurative
language languages was explained contextually based on the songs. And he was
used a descriptive analysis method in found the kinds of figurative languages used
in the songs.

The third related study is thesis by Syamsi Azwardi (2016), he conducts a

research about ‘’analysis of figurative language used in some Coldplays’ song
lyrics’’ from the analysis he found four kinds of figurative language found in four
selected songs of Coldplay and they are hyperbole, metaphor, personification, and
simile. And he used descriptive qualitative method, he used library research as the
method of collecting data.

2) Definition of Figurative Language

Figurative Languages are words, phrases or expression in which meaning of the

words or phrases or expressions are different from literal language. Figurative
language is used for comparison, clarity or emphasis. Figurative languages are
language or expressions used verbally in order to describe or figure out one
intention, idea, or message of one speaker. The terms sometime called as a figure
of speech (Nuriadi, 2016:162).

3) Kinds of Figurative Language

There are kinds of figurative languages that popular: personification, metaphor,

simile, hyperbole, litotes, paradox, metonymy, Synecdoche, allusion, symbolism.

4.) Theory Formalism

There are so many types of theories that used to examine the literary works, one
of them is formalism theory. Formalistic theory basically emphasizes its concept
on the uses of language as ‘a trunk’ to say a writing as a literary works, work of
art, this perspective care about the uses of language.( Nuriadi, 2016:13 ) In other
words, the formalists started out by seeing literary works and came to see these
devices as interrelated elements. Those devices are, sound, imagery, rhythm,
syntax, metre, rhyme, narrative techniques, figurative languages, and so on
( agleton, 1993: 3)

2
The concept of formalism in the research of literature initially pioneered around
1920s when the Russian formalists experts figured by Roman Jakobson, Victor
Shklovsky, OsipBrik, Yuri Tynyanov, Boris Eichenbaum and Boris Tomashevsk.
The main concept is focused on the uses of language which is known as
literaturnostor the literariness.

6. Method

The method applied in this thesis is descriptive qualitative method. Qualitative

method is used as research procedures that result descriptive data containing of
spoken and written words from the people and behavior of people which can be
observed (Moleong in apriono). In other word, qualitative research is a research
procedure that result descriptive data and relies on narrative description. It means
that it is just a description about content and it will not calculate the data of this
research. It will describe the kinds of figurative languages that applied in the song
and explain what the writer wants to explain using figurative languages in the
songs. This research focused on analyzing the content of the idea being gathered
from the collecting of Maher Zain songs.

4. Discussion

There are three song lyrics being studied and taken from Thank You Allah album :
Hold my hand, Palestine tomorrow will be free, and For the rest of my life. The
findings of identification can be seen as it is described below.

The first song is Hold my hand, this song is about showed how we should be
united to one another be there for one another no matter how hard this world is. it
also teaches us to do the right things in life and we should learn to give another
chance.There are many ways we can do it together without hurting, many
blessings that we can give to us. don't be afraid for doing good, because goodness
will bring us to the good too.

The researcher found there are nine lines that used figurative languages lyrics in
this song that is in 1 line ‘’ I hear the flower's kinda crying loud’’, line 2 “The
breeze's sound in sad’’, line 13 “Life is shorter than most have thought”, line 21
“let's pray for a beautiful world”, Line 23 “Children seem like they've lost their
smile”,Lines 26,27 “ And we're still going on Like nobody really cares”, lines 28,
29 “And we just stopped feeling all the pain because Like it's a daily basic affair”.

The second song is ‘’Palestine tomorrow will be free’’, this song is a famous song
in the Thank you Allah album. The creation of this song is motivated by the
circumstances that tells about the suffered situation by our brothers in Palestine.

3
Bombs and rockets had been like the rain falling in the day and the night. The
researcher found there are six lines that used figurative languages lyrics in this
song, that is in 9 line "I keep my head high", line 10 "Deep in my heart I never
have any doubt ", line 15 "Destroying my dreams in a blink of an eye", line 21 "I
will caress with my bare hands”and in line 22 "Every precious grain of sand ".and
in lines 23 “Every stone and every tree".
The third song is ‘’for the rest of my life’’. This song is really famous in Indonesia
and to be one of the kind song has Indonesian version in thank you Allah
album.This song is about Falling in love is a risk, everything is so bright and
beautiful. In the lyrics of this song researcher found nine lines of lyrics that used
figurative languages that is in line 5 “you have opened my hearth”,
In line 7. “But everything was changed when you came along”. In line 9 and 10 “
For the rest of my life, I’ll be with you”. In line 12 “Till the end of my time”. In
line 16 “I’ll thank Allah for open my eyes”. In lines 17 and 18 “Now and forever,
I’ll be there for you”. In line 19. “I know that deep in my heart”. In line 22 “I pray
we're together in Jannah”.
5. Conclusions

Based on the discussion and the data analysis of the previous chapter, two major
conclusions can be drawn. Firstly,The Writer uses formalism theory to analyze the
types of figurative languages found in the song lyrics, there were language style or
kind of figurative language that has a deep meaning by songwriters when written
the song lyrics.In the three songs that analyzed, the researcher focused on
hyperbole, personification, simile and metaphor figurative language. From the
three songs above the writer found the figure of speech which is used in every
each song, follows: In the first song ‘’Hold my hand ‘’ consist of 2
personification, 3 Simile and 1 Metaphor. And the second song is ‘’Palestine tomo
rrow will be free” consist of 6 song hyperbole and 1 simile figurative language,.
In the third song “for the rest of my life”, consist of 9 song lyrics and the
meaning of whole of the lyric of Maher Zain songs are talk about the meaning of
how we must be able to remember about Allah whenever and wherever we are
and Allah is always guiding us if we remember him.
So, from the lyrics above that are found, it can be concluded that, in the three song
lyrics that the researched the kinds of figurative language which is mostly used in
Maher zain song is hyperbole. As we know, the writer examined the religious
song, which also would greatly raise the name of God.

4
 REFERENCES

Apriono.Y. 2017.An analysis of Figurative Language used on scorpion

songspublished Thesis of S1 English Education Program FKIP
Unram. Mataram: FKIP Unram.

Encyclopedia. 2017. Song, http://Encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com,

last accessed on 13th December 2017

Guerra.J 2015.What is a song anyway. www.jonguerramusic.com. last

accessed 28th December 2017

Hornby, A. 1995. Oxford Learners Pocket Dictionary. New York: Oxford

University Press

Kennedy, X. J. 1983. An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama.

Boston Toronto USA : little born and company.
Kherigi,B/maherzain/holdmyhand’’https://www.azlyrics.com/ Accessed 
on 11 Oktober 2018

Kherigi,B/maherzain/thankyouallah/www.azlyrics.com/lyrics / Accessed 
on 11 Oktober 2018
Kherigi,B/maherzain/fortherestofmylife/https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/
Accessed on 11 oktober 2018
Moleong, J. 2010. MetodologiPenelitianKualitatif. Bandung : PT
RemajaRosdakarya
Masuvi.2011.  www.  machboub.blogspot.co.id.kumpulan-lirik-lagu-
maher-zain.Accessed Accessed on Sunday, 26 February, 2018.

Nuriadi, 2016.Theory of Literature : An Introduction. Mataram: ArgaPuji

Press Mataram, Lombok.
Nurrohmah.S 2012.An analysis on figurative language used In GOLA
GONG’S NOVEL “BilaWaktuBicara”: STAN Salatiga

Random House Dictionary of the English Language, (1996: 806 )

Sugiyono. 2008. MetodePenelitianKuantitatif, Kualitatifdan R&D.

Bandung :PenerbitAlfabeta

5
Saleh.F. Al-Turāṡ Vol. XX No.1, Januari 2014 Teoryformalisme/
bhalagah, Accessed on 20th December 2017

Perrine, L, 1982. Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry, sixth

edition. USA:Brave Jovanovich.

Potter, JL, 1967. Elements of Literature. New York: The Odyssey Press.